


Deafening Silence

by The_Lonely_Geek



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, F/F, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-01 22:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lonely_Geek/pseuds/The_Lonely_Geek
Summary: Finding a suicide note in your own handwriting, dated three days ago. A cute girl you haven't spoken to years tumbling through your front door telling you to run or you will be shot. Things are getting crazy for Alice, but will Robin be able to help her evade capture and her fate to die, or is Alice destined for heartbreak?





	1. Chapter 1

**_**Alice's POV** _ **

I sigh as a flop down on my bed after another day of torture. I wish that I could just be normal. Why can't I just fit in with everyone else? No one has ever made me feel welcome, apart from Papa. But he died. They say it was a car accident. I don't believe them. It was too much of a coincidence. The day my mum got out of prison. It also happened to be my 16th birthday. The fact that I believe that my mum had something to do with my dad's death.

My mum had been in prison on several charges, including rape. That was how I was born. I was born in prison, my dad got custody though. Obviously. With a start to life like that though, could I have ever fitted in?

People always whisper about me in the street. Mad Alice they call me, when they think I'm not listening. Off in Wonderland they say. I'm not crazy though, I'm not. I just talk to myself sometimes which some people find...off putting. They look at me like I'm a freak. I'm only trying to collect my thoughts though. I have so many that I can't cram them into my tiny head.

The feeling of a knife twisting in my guys only worsens when I spot a piece of paper on my desk that I don't remember being there this morning. I knew it was going to be a bad day this morning, and just seeing the paper has only intensified. I have a lot of bad days. I just have a gut feeling that something is going to go wrong. I've never been wrong about it. The feeling in my stomach is really bad right now. And a buzzing noise has started up. I've only had the buzzing noise once before. The day my dad died.

I begged him not to go out. He was going out to buy me a chess set. It was my birthday present. I told him not to. I told him something bad would happen. And it did. He died and a part of me along with him.

The buzzing's only gets louder as I pick up the paper. The first thing I notice is that it is my handwriting. The second is that it isn't written in ink, but in blood.

__I'm sorry, but I can't go on like this. I've tried to live with it. The silence. The deafening silence that surrounds me. Only one thing can stop it. Death. I have to die. I'm sorry._ _

It's then that I notice that it was dated three days ago...

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

_**Alice's POV** _

"What the-?" I mutter to myself, utterly bewildered by it. How was it possible? I didn't write this. There's no denying that it is my writing though. My writing is pretty distinctive, large and loopy with little starfishes (starfish is the nickname my dad gave me) instead of dots on the "i"s.

Is this some kind of cruel joke? Is it possible that someone could've taken a sample of my handwriting and managed to use it to write this? Maybe there was some technology that could do it. I wouldn't know if there was because I'm clueless with technology. I hate it. I've never understood why people love to live their lives on tiny bits of metal when there's a whole world out there, waiting to be explored.

I do have a basic mobile, not a fancy one with a touchscreen and internet, but I have to have one so that Sabine, my boss, can contact me if she needs to change a shift or something. The only reason I even got that job was because she knew my dad and felt sorry for me.

I turn back to the suicide note in my hand. It's probably just some sick note left by someone who thinks it's funny to torment me. Although, deep down I know that I'm lying to myself. The buzzing in my head hasn't stopped, if anything it's only got louder. Louder and louder.

I can barely think. "Argh!" I scream out in frustration as I clutch my head. Why won't it stop? It's hurting my head I can't think properly. I almost jump out of my skin when I hear the doorbell ring. It takes me a few seconds to realise that the ringing from it wasn't in my head. What now?

I manage to stumble to the door, still clutching my head. I really hope it isn't someone just messing around because they want to meet crazy old Alice. I open it slowly, glaring out.

"Hi Alice, you probably don't really remember me, but my name's Robin, my mum used to know your dad," A cute girl says. She does look vaguely familiar, but with the buzzing going on in my head it's hard to be certain of anything.

**_**Robin's POV** _ **

"I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I have no time to explain, you have to come with me. There are people trying to hurt you." I try to explain. Alice only stares at me though, clutching her head as if it's hurting. She seems kind of distracted. And then she snaps out of it and goes to close the door.

"I'm not mad, go away," She yells, but I step into her house before she can shut me out.

"I know," I say quickly, wishing she could just come with me. If we don't move soon, it's going to be too late and they'll kill her. "I can explain later, but you need to trust me."

**_**Alice's POV** _ **

The buzzing is only getting worse as I stare at Robin. I don't know what to do. People are always doing stupid stuff like this to me, but Robin looks serious and there's the buzzing. The buzzing always knows when something bad is happening.

I suddenly pull Robin to the floor and duck myself. I don't know why I did it. It sounds crazy, but then this is all crazy, but it felt like the buzzing wanted me to. It's fortunate that I did tbough, as mere seconds after I do, a bullet flies just millimetres above our heads, had we been standing, we'd both be dead right now.

I think this is proof enough that Robin is right. Someone does want to kill me. And through the buzzing I can only formulate one thought, one question, one word before black spots cover my eyes and my mind mists over: Why?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Robin's POV** _

“Alice?” I hiss as she slumps on me, blacking out. She must've fainted from the shock of everything. “Alice?” I hiss again, shoving the door closed and shaking her slightly until she comes around a few seconds later.

“What?” Alice mumbled dazedly.

“We have to go,” I tell her. “Someone was shooting at you.” Alice clutches her head suddenly, as if distracted by some other noise. “Is there a back door?” Alice then shakes herself and gets up nodding.

“I just need to get something,” She tells me, dashing through a door which I presume leads to her living room.

“We don't have time, they're gonna be in here any second,” I say as there's a loud noise from the door, like they're trying to break the door down.

“Ready,” Alice says, clutching something small in her hand. “This way.” She leads me through to her back door.

“What did you need?” I ask, as we go out. She unfolds her hand and sitting in it is a white knight chess piece.

“My papa gave it to me,” She explained as we run down the street. I pull her into an alleyway quickly. We have to stay hidden. They'll kill her on site. “Now will you please explain to me what's going on? Why is the buzzing getting louder?” She asks me as we carry on running.

“I'll explain, I promise,” I tell her. “But we need to get to my place first. They don't know who I am, we'll be safe there.” I lead Alice through the streets and her hand finds mine as we run. Her hand is soft, but is slightly sweaty, from the running probably.

_**Alice's POV** _

Robin leads me through the maze of backstreets and alleys until we reach a group of apartments and she leads me into one and up the flights of stairs. “We're on the top floor but the lift's always broken.”

“We?” I ask, confused by everything happening. Why is everything happening? Is it just coincidence that Robin turned up after I found the note?

“My mum,” Robin told her. “She knows about this and won't give you up, don't worry.” When we finally reach the top of the flights of stairs, Robin pulls out her key and starts unlocking the door. I realise that at some point whilst we were running, the buzzing stopped. Somehow, despite all the crazy things happening, Robin made me feel safe. “Come on, quickly.” Robin says, pushing the door open.

“Are you okay Robin?” I hear an anxious voice ask as soon as I step inside. “It's been on the news.” Robin's mum, Zelena, walks into the room as Robin closes the door.

“I'm fine,” She says quickly, giving her mum a quick hug. “It was close though. Alice saved me from being shot.” Zelena walks over to me and pulls me into a hug.

“Thank you,” She says sincerely. “You must be so confused. Robin didn't have time to explain. She had to get you out of there, and quickly. She can explain it all now, over dinner. How did you escape after they started shooting?” She asks, leading us through to the kitchen where there is a delicious smell of pizza.

“Did you make my favourite chicken and sweetcorn pizza with mozzarella stuffed crusts?” Robin asks, smelling the air.

“Well that's what I made for me and Alice, you however have broccoli pizza,” Zelena joked, taking the pizzas out of the oven.

“Ha ha,” Robin said sarcastically.

“Sit down you two,” Zelena tells us. “I'm sure Alice is dying to know what's going on.” I take a seat next to Robin, still slightly dazed by everything that had happened.

“What do you want to know then?” Robin asks. I pause for a moment, considering what I wanted to know first.

“Just before you came to my house, I found a note,” I tell her, fumbling in my pocket, realising that's where I put it when I was opening the door for Robin. I pull it out and hand it to her. “It's my handwriting, but I didn't write it.” I explain as she looks at it. “Is this – whatever this is – all linked.” Robin stares at the note and then looks across to her mum. They catch each other's gaze and then Robin turns to look at me, her eyes wide with sadness and regret.

“I'm so sorry Alice,” She says, taking my hand and squeezing it slightly. “But there's nothing that we can do.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask. What is going on? My life seemed so normal just an hour ago. Now I've found a suicide note in my writing that I didn't write that was written in the past, been shot at and am now officially on the run. What is happening? Why me?

“We thought that we could save you... but this. The future – or rather the past – has already been written,” I don't understand. I'm alive. I didn't die three days ago. Tears of confusion and frustration stream down my face.

“What's happening?” I manage to get out and Robin holds me comfortingly. “Tell me... from the beginning.” Robin takes a deep breath before beginning.

“Three days ago I got a phone call, from you-”

“I didn't call you three days ago,” I protest. “I haven't got your number... or even seen you in years.”

“I know,” Robin says. “All of this is going to sound crazy, but I can explain. And I have proof if at the end you don't believe me, which you probably won't.” Zelena puts a plate of pizza down in front of me and I smile at her, grateful for the food. I haven't eaten for hours.

“Thanks,” I smile, before diving into the plate and Robin continues.

“Three days ago I got a phone call from you. I was pretty shocked and then she told me to start looking into a company. It's called Belfrey Limited, and it's government owned. In the phone call you gave me the passcode to be able to access the part of the websites that only employees can get on. Told me to look into the time travel section. I nearly didn't. I thought you must've taken some drugs or something, but I decided to check if the passcode actually worked, and if it didn't I'd just leave it.

It worked though. And I went through all the files that had time travel in it. Turns out they've done it. I don't know how they managed it or anything, but your mum's name kept popping up. Eloise Gardener, and sometimes yours. And then I stumbled across a file that I hadn't seen. It was a letter from your mum to Ivy Belfrey, the owner of the company, talking about you. It said that you were the key to making time travel easier.

In the phone call you told me that in 3 days time I would have to go to your house and bring you here and tell you everything. You hung up before I could ask anything else, but this morning I got a note through the door reminding me and giving me the exact time to get you.” She finishes. I just stare at her. None of this seems possible. Why me? What on earth is my mum doing? Why does she want me? I'm not important. I'm nobody.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

_**Robin's POV** _

“But...” Alice trailed off. “Why me? What have I got to do with this? And why would I call you?” It comes out sounding rude and then she realises what she said. “I didn't... I wasn't-” But I understood what she had meant. It did make no sense that she had called me. I can't even the last time we had spoken, at her dad's funeral maybe.

“I don't know,” I shrug. “But we're going to find out.” I tell her, taking a bite of the pizza mum put in front of me while I was talking to Alice.

“How?” Alice asks and I grin.

“We're breaking into Belfrey Ltd headquarters.” I say and she stares at me.

“No,” Mum says quickly. “I don't mind you helping Alice to escape the government, but you are not putting your life at risk to help her – no offence Alice – you got shot at. You could've died. No” I roll my eyes at her over protectiveness.

“I'm gonna be a target now anyway,” I remind her. “We need to leave.”

“It'll take time for them to work out who you are,” Mum says to me. “You can deny having anything to do with her.” But I shake my head.

“Mum, they were shooting at us, I don't think that's gonna work. They clearly have no regard for the law.” I say to her. “I was careful and made sure that we avoided security cameras so they might not know where we are. Deny we ever came here. You'll have to wash up really quick so they don't question why there are so many plates. You know nothing that happened.” I tell her. This is mine and Alice's problem, I'm not getting my mum dragged into this. “The last time you saw me was when I was eating breakfast this morning just before you left for work. I showed no indications that anything was wrong.” Then I realise my phone is in my pocket. I can't have that on me. We'd get found in hours. I take it out and go over to the drawer and get the rolling pin out and smash it to pieces. I quickly gather them up and drop them in the bin.

“Robin!” Mum exclaims. “Do you know how much that cost?”

“They can trace it,” I tell her. “You found my phone smashed when you got home so chucked it in the bin, assuming it was an accident or something and I hadn't had time to clear it up.”

“Robin-” Mum begins.

“I have to do this,” I tell her. She has to listen to me though. She's not getting arrested because of me.

“I know,” She sighs. “Be careful though.” I nod.

“I will,” I tell her, giving her a hug. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” She whispers, running her fingers through my hair gently. “Alice, bring my baby home.” Alice nods.

“I'm sorry,” She tells us. “This is all my fault. I-”

“I didn't have to get involved,” I remind her. “I have a bag packed with supplies. Do you have your phone with you?” I ask her but she shakes her head. “Good. Go use the toilet if you need it and then we've got to go.”

_**Alice's POV** _

“Where are we gonna go?” I ask Robin as we walk down the street, our hoods up to cover our faces if there are any security cameras. I can feel my heart thumping loudly in my chest, and not just out of fear. Everything happened so quickly. I don't know what's going on. I just want to be safe.

“I don't know,” Robin admits. “I hadn't thought that far ahead. Do you know anywhere that we could possibly go? Maybe an old abandoned house or something.” I pause thinking for a moment, then I remember a memory from when I was 5, maybe 6. My tower.

“I might,” I tell her. “We need to head to Carceek Park.”

“Okay,” She replies. “We're not too far. Maybe a few miles away. We should be able to get there by night. Where is it we're staying?”

“My Papa built a tower there,” I tell her. “Well it was technically a tree house, but we called it a tower. I haven't been in years but I don't think anyone else knew about it so it might still be there. Hopefully it wasn't destroyed in a storm or anything.”

“It's all we've got,” Robin shrugs. “Might as well try it, if not there might be some over tree house that we could find.”

_**Robin's POV** _

“It's not gonna be the most comfortable night,” Alice says to me once we're both in her little tree house. I look around and see a small two seater sofa, covered in dust and there's a small table next to it with a couple of plates and some cutlery. “I'll take the floor.” She volunteers, but I feel bad. The floor won't be comfortable.

“I'm sure we could both fit on the sofa,” I tell her. “If we sit instead of lay down. How did you even get a sofa up here anyway?” Alice smiles, as if reliving the memory.

“With great difficulty,” She replies.

“I can imagine,” I laugh. “Your dad did all this for you?” Alice nods, taking a seat and I sit next to her, our bodies touching slightly because the sofa's so small.

“I loved my Papa more than anything else in the world,” She tells me, her voice going quiet. “The day he died was the worst day of my life.”

“I'm sorry,” I tell her, taking her hand and squeezing it comfortingly. “At least you knew him though. Mine died before I was one.”

“I'm sorry,” Alice says, sounding genuinely upset, before she smiles at me. I return the smile before searching through my backpack for a book. “What are you reading?” Alice asks me, looking at me.

“Alice in Wonderland,” I smile. “It's my favourite.”

“Mine's Robin Hood,” She tells me, before closing her eyes and in minutes she is snoring gently.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

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_**Alice's POV** _

Robin is snoring gently when I wake to the sun streaming in through the clear plastic window that Papa put in. They could do with a good clean, but clean windows barely matter when we're on the run. I stand up just as I realise that I've started my period a few days early. I don't have a spare change of clothes or pads or anything. I spot Robin's bag on the floor and unzip it. I wouldn't normally go through her stuff but she's got to have a some underwear, jeans and some pads I can use. I find her clothes in no time and after a couple of seconds fumbling in a separate compartment of her bag I find a few pads and, to my joy some tissues.

I look over at Robin. She doesn't seem like she's gonna wake up anytime soon and I don't have any idea what time it is, but I don't want to risk going out of the Tower in case a passer by sees me. I try to clean myself up as quickly as possible, facing away from Robin in case she does wake up.

_**Robin's POV** _

I wake up to a loud thump. I open my eyes blearily, wondering why I feel so uncomfortable. The events of last night run through my head as I see what caused the loud thump. Alice is sitting on the floor, looking like she has just slipped over. A pair of jeans is next to her. She must've been trying to put them on and fell.

“You okay?” I ask. She turns her head and her face burns bright red.

“Um, yeah,” She says, standing up. I can't help but admire her legs as she does so. I blink quickly and turn away. What's wrong with me? Alice is barely a friend, why am I looking at her like this? “I'm really sorry, I had to go to through your stuff and borrow...” She trails off nodding to where the jeans she was wearing last night were laying screwed up on the floor as she pulls the other pair of jeans on. She doesn't need to finish the sentence because I see the blood on the jeans.

“We'll have to be careful but we can drop in at a shop today,” I tell her. “Don't worry about it.”

“Thanks,” She says. “I didn't mean to wake you up.” I look at my watch yawning. It's already 9.

“We need to get going soon anyway,” I shrug. “Breakfast?” She smiles at me in reply. I grab my rucksack and rummage through it and pull out a couple of breakfast bars and a bottle of water.

“Thanks,” She smiles, catching the breakfast bar I chuck at her.

_**Alice's POV** _

“I only got enough food for breakfast so I'll get some more and you get what you need. Clothes and stuff,” Robin tells me when we go into the supermarket. I nod and head towards the clothes area, trying to be as discreet as possible. We think we managed to avoid cameras on the way here, but you can never be too careful. I pick out a pair of leggings, some jeans, a jumper and a t-shirt before grabbing several packs of sanitary towels before going to look for Robin.

On my way I spot a shelf of marmalade. Smiling, I pick a jar off the shelf. Papa was awful at cooking so we always used to eat marmalade sandwiches together. I smile fondly at the memory as Robin pops up behind me.

“You want it?” She asks me.

“Nah,” I say, pretending that it was just a jar of marmalade. She probably thinks I'm even more of a weirdo since this morning. Now she's gonna think I'm completely and utterly bonkers. I go to put it back on the shelf but she takes it out of my hand and puts it in the basket and without saying a word we head to the checkout. Robin heads towards the emptiest one, but I pull her back. “Self-service.” I tell her, nodding to where there were several self-service machines. “Less likely to be noticed.”

“Oh yeah,” Robin says. “Why didn't I think of that?” I shrug.

“I never want people to notice me,” I tell her. “And it mostly works.”

“I notice you,” Robin replies quietly, and I don't know why, but my heart to beats a little bit faster.

_**Robin's POV** _

“Oh look candy apples,” I say, as we walk out of the supermarket seeing a small stand selling them. It's the first thing either of us have said since I told her that I notice her. I'm scared that I freaked her out slightly.

“I've never had one,” Alice admits to me. “I didn't even know you could put candy on fruit.”

“You can put candy on anything if you try hard enough,” I smile, walking to the stand so we can have one each.

“This is amazing,” Alice tells me a few minutes later after taking a bite into the candy apple. “Where to now?”

“We should get back to the tree house,” I reply. “We've probably been caught on CCTV so they'll be here soon.”

“Why risk this?” Alice says a few minutes later. “Why do all of this for me? Your life... It's ruined now.” I pause, unsure how to answer.

“I never knew my dad,” I begin. “But my mum always told me that he always did what was right. Helped those he needed it.”

“You barely knew me though,” Alice comments. “You trusted me when I called you, just like that?” I pause again. Alice can't know the truth. I have to make sure everything happens as it's supposed to. Alice can't know. Not yet anyway.

“I trusted you,” I reply softly. “When we get back to the tree house we need to plan.”

“Plan for what?” Alice asks and I look her in the eye as I reply.

“Busting into Belfrey Ltd.” I say grimly.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6** _

_**Alice's POV** _

“I got you something at the shop,” Robin tells me, digging through one of the plastic carrier bags of food and she pulls out a book. “You said it was your favourite.”

“Thanks,” I say, looking in her beautiful green eyes. I pull my gaze away to look at the book for a moment. Robin Hood. “You remembered.”

“You sound surprised,” Robin smiles. “Of course I remember. I remember everything about you.” In any other situation it would've sounded creepy, but coming from Robin's lips it sounds just right.

“And I with you,” Is the only response I can think of and suddenly our lips are touching softly. That's when the buzzing begins. Around Robin the buzzing had stopped, but it seemed to be starting again, louder than ever. “Argh!” I cry out, pulling my lips away from Robin's. I can't do this. We're on the run. We're planning on breaking into Belfrey Ltd. It's not going to work out. I was never destined for a happy ending.

_**Robin's POV** _

I freeze as Alice clutches her, looking like she's in pain. “Alice?” I wrap my arm round her shoulder pulling her into a hug. “Alice? I'm sorry.” I shouldn't have kissed her. I was such an idiot for thinking she would like me like that. “What's wrong?” Alice shakes her head and eventually looks me in her eyes. They are shiny with tears that have yet to fall.

“The buzzing's started again,” She tells me. “In my head.” I don't know what to do. What should I do? All I know is the longer we stay out here, the more likely we are to be caught.

“Okay,” I whisper, to myself more than Alice. “Can you try to ignore it, just for now?”

“I'll try,” Alice murmurs, and we begin walking on. I look around, and heave a sigh of relief when I realise that no one was watching us. “I'm sorry.” Alice says after a minute or two of silence. “I shouldn't have-” She breaks off, unable to continue, but then she manages to finish. “I was stupid to think-” But I break in.

“You're not an idiot,” I tell her. “You're the most intelligent, the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure to meet.” Alice stares at me with wonder.

“You're the first person to tell me that I'm beautiful since my father died,” She says to me. I take her hand and squeeze it slightly.

“Well then everyone you met must be blind,” I reply. “And if by some miracle we manage to survive this, I would be honoured if you would consider being my girlfriend.”

“I'm honoured that you want me,” Alice says. “But I can't. You don't want me. I'd only be a burden. I can have really bad days. The buzzing is so loud I can hardly think.”

“Then you won't have to think,” I say, determined not to give up without a fight. “I'll do it for both of us.”

“You don't want me,” Alice insists. “Trust me it's easier this way.”

“Trust me,” I smile at her. “Just consider it, please.”

_**Zelena's POV** _

“We've got a sighting,” The muffled voice comes through the radio that the cop is carrying.

“Well if you do hear anything from your daughter, be sure to let us know,” He tells me and I give him a sickly smile, already planning to follow him in my car. If they've found Alice and Robin, I'll do whatever it takes to stop them taking them away. Robin is the only family I have left. I will defend her to my last.

“Of course officer,” I say, before leading him to the door. This is the second officer they've sent here now. I've not given anything away. I'd die before I told them anything. The story they're telling me is that Alice is a dangerous criminal that has manipulated Robin into helping. As if that sweet girl could ever be a dangerous criminal. As soon as the front door is closed, I dash to get my coat and car keys. I'm not going to let that cop get anywhere near that daughter.

_**Several minutes later** _

I am careful to make sure that I remain a couple of cars behind the police car. I don't want them figuring it out that it's me trying to stop them getting Robin and Alice. I wonder what made them go outside. Robin is smart enough to know that there's CCTV everywhere. They should've stayed wherever it is they stayed last night. They were at least safe there.

The police car suddenly parks, but I continue driving, pulling into a side street and parking there as soon as I can. I am careful to turn my car round so I can watch what is going on though.

_**Alice's POV** _

“Robin,” I whisper, shaking her shoulder and nodding at where a police car has just pulled over. “We need to run.” Robin sees the police and her eyes widen in panic.

“If we can get down an ally or something we might be able to lose them,” Robin tells me as we begin to run. We cross the road so that we can get further away from the police and there is something that looks like a back street or ally of some sorts that we could lose them in.

I chance a look across my shoulder and see them chasing us. As we reach the pavement on the other side of the road, there is a loud bang and we look back again. A car pulls to a stop and someone gets out. It's Zelena! What's she doing here?

_**Robin's POV** _

“Mum?” I yell. Did she just run over a police officer for me? I knew I shouldn't have told her anything about this. There's no way she's gonna be able to stay out of this now.

“Robin,” She smiles. “Run. Now.” I pause, not wanting to leave mum here. The other police officer's are approaching her now, their guns aimed, but she puts her hands up. “Don't you dare hurt my daughter, or I swear it is the last thing you do.” She tells them as they walk up to her. “Run Robin! Don't worry about me.” I am vaguely aware of Alice tugging at my hand so I run, letting her lead the way.

I try to ignore the people staring. I try to ignore the growing stitch in my side. I try to ignore every instinct telling me to go back to help mum. She made her choice though. I know that. I hardly hear what the police yell after us. “She'll be released when you turn yourselves in.” It's only when those words really sink in that the tears flow down my face.

Alice and I don't stop until we get back to the tree house though. Then she holds me as I cry. I can only formulate one thought: they have my mum, and they will do anything to her that will mean we turn ourselves in.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

We can't just rush in,” I tell Robin once she's calmed down a bit. There's not even a discussion about whether I was going to turn myself in or not. I'm not letting Robin's mum get hurt because of me. “I was thinking we take advantage of the fact that they think I'm crazy. Distract them with my craziness and then whilst they're distracted, you can escape and sneak round.”

“Do you really think it'll work?” Robin asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

“Course,” I reply, sounding way more confident than I feel.

“Do you have a hair grip?” Robin asks. “Odds are they're gonna hand cuff us, but I know how to pick a lock with one so if I have one I can probably manage to undo them.” I smile, pulling one of the many grips that I have to use to tame my hair out.

“I've got plenty,” I smile. “I doubt they'll think to check my hair.”

“I'm sorry,” Robin tells me. “I don't want to do this.”

“I know, we have to get your mum out of this,” I say. She looks at me, her eyes still moist and flings her arms around me. “And we will.”

_**Robin's POV** _

Alice is doing a pretty good job of pretending to be crazy. Don't ask me how because I don't know, but she managed to get her hands of a rabbit mask and an old rubix cube. She's sitting on the bench muttering to herself. It won't be long until we're picked up.

“Alice come on,” I mutter, shaking her shoulder, pretending to want to get her out of there. It's all just an act though. Sure enough, a couple of men begin walking over to us. “You're doing great.” I whisper just before they reach us.

“You two need to come with us,” The first says, yanking me away from Alice. I begin to struggle, though I know that it will be hopeless. I don't really want to escape anyway. If I escape, then my mum will be kept prisoner. I can't let that happen. She was never supposed to get caught up in all of this.

“Alice, I told you we needed to go,” I mutter, pretending to be angry with her for getting her caught.

“Let's get this ridiculous mask off,” The other one mutters, yanking the mask off Alice's face.

“We're all wearing masks,” Alice says, grinning at him, her eyes widening.

“Handcuff her Weaver,” The one holding me says. “She's clearly barking.”

_**Alice's POV** _

My head begins to buzz as we are left in cells next to each other, but there are bars between them. As soon as they leave us, Robin rushes to the bars. “Give me-”

“Argh!” I scream, suddenly noticing the camera facing my cell from the corridor our cells are off. I note that they don't have one outside Robin's cage. Clearly they aren't as interested in her escaping, but it's still not a good idea for them to know what she's doing. I lean against the bars, one of my hands pretending to be yanking at my hair in pain. “My head hurts so much.” I pull my hand away from my head and put it through the bars, grabbing Robin's hand.

“Alice,” Robin whispers, scrambling to think of something to say. I can tell she knows it's an act of some kind. “It's okay. They won't keep us here for long, then maybe we can get you some water.”

“No, no,” I mutter, edging away form her now the hair grip is tucked safely in her hand. “The buzzing-” I clutch my head, and slump down against the wall, faking it all. I need to make as much noise as possible while Robin is fiddling with the lock. “Argh.” I keep screaming out until I see her push open the door. She flashes me a look before she is gone, careful to walk quietly in case the camera picks the noise up.

I look up a few minutes later as someone walks in dragging someone with them. Has Robin been caught already? “Get you're hands off me you little munchkin!” I stare as I see it is the officer who arrested me, Weaver, dragging Zelena along.

“It's a shame your daughter didn't hang around to see you,” Weaver mutters, unlocking the door to my cell and shoving Zelena in. I leap to my feet, wondering what is happening. Zelena immediately spins around to try and get out, but Weaver has already locked the cell and is walking away.

“You hurt Robin, I don't care how long it takes I will kill you!” Zelena screams, pounding on the door, but Weaver doesn't turn. “What are you two doing here?” She asks me, giving me a quick hug.

“We couldn't let them kidnap you,” I tell her. “Robin would never have allowed that.”

“Where is she now?” Zelena asks. “What did he mean she didn't stay around to see me.” Then it dawns on me that this must have all been a manipulation game. We thought we were trapping them, but we really fell into their trap. Face first. They want us here, with Zelena. They wanted all this to happen, the question is why.

“She escaped,” I reply. “But somehow I don't think that she is anymore.”

“We need to figure out how to save her,” Zelena replies. “How did she escape?” I pull another hair grip from my hair in explanation and she smiles slightly, taking it from me. “How do you think she learnt to pick locks?”

_**Robin's POV** _

“I'll take the food to the prisoner,” I hear a guard say. The prisoner. That must mean mum! I need to sneak in with them. I've got no idea what I'm going to do when I find mum. I don't even know how to escape this place. I've been wandering around for several minutes with no luck. These guards must be going to mum though.

I slip through the door after them. I feel someone grab my arm. I spin and my heart sinks as I see another guard. “As you're so eager to see the prisoner, we'll lock you in there with them.” I curse my luck as I am shoved into the room that mum must be locked in. At least I know that she's okay now.

“Robin?” I look up at the voice. It's a voice that I recognise, but I haven't heard for years. It's certainly not my mum's. But it's impossible. He died.

“Killian?” I whisper, staring at the prisoner, not my mum, but Alice's dad.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

_**Robin's POV** _

“How is this possible?” I ask, stunned at the sight of Alice's dad in front of me. He's dead. He can't be here. He shouldn't be here.

“Because of me,” I spin around and stare at the woman in front of me. “So you're the girl who has fallen in love with my daughter.” She said softly, walking over to me. She brings her hand up to touch my face but I step back disgusted. This is Eloise Gardner? This is Alice's mum.

“Don't you dare touch her,” Killian growled, lunging forwards, but chains that I didn't see before stopped him from going far.

“Or what?” Eloise asked, turning to him. “I'm sure Robin has lots of questions for me.”

“Where's my mum?” I demanded. “We came didn't we? Let her go!” I lunge for her angrily. This is the woman that has hunted Alice down, locked up her dad and kidnapped my mum. I'll kill her. She easily pushes me back against the wall.

“You're a feisty one,” She smirks. “And you tried to escape and therefore broke the terms of our agreement.” I step forwards to try and attack her again but Killian catches my eye. From his look he tells me everything. We have to wait until she's caught off guard.

“What do you want?” Killian asks her. “Robin and Zelena have nothing to do with this.” I note that he doesn't include Alice in the list. He clearly knows more than me about whatever's going on.

“Yes they don't have anything to do with this,” Eloise agrees smirking at Killian's anger. “But she cares for them just as she cares for you. She'll do as I say if it means that they are safe.” Does Alice really care for me that much? Apart from the past couple of days we've hardly spoken. I guess she was alone before then though so she'd be likely to form an attachment to anyone that was helping her.

“Don't do this,” Killian begged. “This isn't going to change anything.”

“I can try,” She said angrily, and I think there may even be a hint of sadness behind her eyes. How is this woman capable of sadness when she's locked us all up with no explanation.

“What has Alice got to do with any of this?” I ask, frustrated that no one's telling me what's going on.

“I think for us to do that, we're going to need Alice,” Eloise says. “Guards! Get her and take her to the upper cells.” Then she steps outside for a second and returns with two guards. One handcuffs me and begins forcing me along whilst the other unchains Killian and does the same to him. We are forced into separate cells and Eloise stands smiling in front of Killian's cell, waiting.

_**Alice's POV** _

“Get your hands off me!” I scream, trying to wriggle and kick out of the guards reach, but it's futile. Where are they taking me? They eventually shove me into a room and close the door behind me. It's then that I begin to take in my surroundings and notice three things at the exact same time.

In front of me, smiling is her. My mother. Or at least the woman who gave birth to me. The monster that brought me into the world. And apparently the reason that my whole life has been turned upside down over the past few days. I want nothing more than to lunge at her but the other two things that I see stop me.

In the cell closest to me Robin is standing, staring at me. Her hands are cuffed and her hair is a lot messier than when I saw her when she was escaping her cell. Her gaze turns from Eloise Gardner to me and then to... the third thing I notice.

“Papa?” I whisper, not believing it. That's not possible. He's dead. This must be some trick. He looks dishevelled and is handcuffed, but I'd know him anywhere.

“Alice,” He whispers. “Don't listen to her.” He says quickly, as I begin to run to his cell, but Eloise puts me in Robin's cell instead. “I'm not worth it.”

“How is this possible?” I ask, stumbling in the cell. I immediately put my arms around Robin, seeking comfort, but my eyes don't leave Papa. Papa opens his mouth to speak but Eloise gets there first.

“Time travel,” She says. What? Is all that ridiculous stuff about Belfrey Ltd that Robin pulled up true? But that's impossible. “We've found a gene that allows the person carrying the gene to go back in time.” Eloise begins to explain. Why would she go back and save my Papa? None of this makes any sense. What has any of this got to do with me? “The government discovered that I had this particular gene and they were going to use me as a guinea pig, but I made a deal.”

“Alice don't do anything she says,” Papa says, trying to walk to the partition between our cells but his hands have been chained so he can't reach it.

“So that my offspring could be experimented on as much as they wanted, but they would use more humane methods on me,” Eloise continues, ignoring Papa's interruption. And suddenly it all clicks into place. She must have gone back in time and brought Papa back with her. I have the gene that she passed on. And now they need me so they have taken the ones I love.

“Alice please,” Papa begs.

“You let them go,” I tell her. I can't let me family get hurt. Papa was only in that car accident because of me. Robin's life was only turned upside down because of me. They don't deserve this. “And I will do what you want.”

“Alice, no,” Robin says, pulling away from me to look me in the eye.

“Listen to her Alice,” Papa says, but I can't listen to them. I have to do this. To protect them. “We'll find a way to escape.”

“Good girl Alice,” Eloise smiles.

“Can I have a minute, to say goodbye to Papa and then you let them go?” I ask, walking to the cell door. Eloise unlocks it for me.

“As long as you comply, they will be safe,” She confirms, leading me to Papa's cell and letting me in.

_**Killian's POV** _

Alice runs towards me, her arms outstretched. It's the first time I've touched, or even seen her, in weeks. It's been about 6 weeks since they pulled me out of the crash and locked me up here. It's been years for Alice though. “Don't do this,” I whisper into her blonde curls. I feel my shoulder begin to grow wet from her tears though. “I'm not worth it.”

“You're worth everything Papa,” She tells me, before looking down to the pocket of her jeans. She pulls something out and puts it in my hand. “To remember me.” I look down and see a white knight and smile fondly.

“Starfish,” I whisper. “Please don't do this.”

“I lost you once,” She shakes her head. “I can't lose you again.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are gonna be less frequent now because I've uploaded everything that I've written. I should be able update at least once a fortnight though.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Robin's POV** _

“Alice no!” I scream as Eloise drags her from the room. Killian clings to her hand for as long as he can, but their fingers slide apart and I can vaguely hear Killian also screaming for his daughter, but the door is slammed behind Eloise and Alice. I don't bother trying to do anything. There would be no point. Alice chose this. So that we would be released. I slump to the floor, leaning against the bars that keep me contained.

Hours pass. I am vaguely aware that I have begun nibbling my lips anxiously, so much that it started to bleed at some point. The pain doesn't register though. Nothing does. Why haven't they released us yet? That was the agreement. Wasn't it? Eloise's words go round my head. She said safe. Not free. Just safe. Of course they wouldn't release us. We're still valuable to them.

I eventually curl up in a corner of the cell and try to sleep. Clearly they aren't going to move us any time soon. Somehow I manage to doze on and off for a while. I eventually give up trying to sleep properly though. I am too worried about Alice and Killian is still shaking the bars of the cell and shouting, despite his now sore throat.

After what feels like forever, someone, I recognise him as one of the people who arrested Alice and I, comes in. He strides over to my cell and I leap up, dashing to the bars. “If she's not safe-” I growl, but he interrupts, talking quickly and quietly.

“We don't have long,” He begins starting to unlock my cell. “Follow me and I can get you out, your mum is waiting and we have a safe house.”

“Alice?” Killian asks as the guy unlocks him. “Is sh-”

“I can't get her out, not yet,” The man says leading us out of the door and we follow him down a series of corridors. “But they won't hurt her. They need her.”

“We need to rescue her,” Killian tells him. “If we can't rescue her now, then we have to return.”

“We will,” He replies shortly. “But for now Eloise and Ivy have her too tightly guarded.”

“Ivy?” I ask sharply. I recognise the name, but where from I couldn't say.

“Belfrey,” He tells me. “She's the one who runs this company. Used to be her mother, Victoria, but she died.”

_**Zelena's POV** _

“You're safe,” My heart stops pounding as my daughter and Killian climb into the back of the van that Weaver gets into the front of and begins to drive. I wasn't sure if he would deliver on his promise. Why he's helping me I don't know. He said that she found out about us being held by Eloise and called in a favour so he would get us out.

How Roni found out about us being kidnapped though, I don't know. I don't care about our history though, she's got my daughter to safety. “Mum,” Robin smiles, running into my arms. I wrap my arms around her and stroke her hair softly as I pull her closer. “Where are we going? What about Alice?”

“We'll come back for her,” I say quickly, knowing that until I mention Alice, she would only become more agitated. “And we're going to an old friend's. We'll be safe there.”

“Who?” Killian asked, looking at me sharply. I look him in the eye and nodded. He just stares into my eyes. I only know Killian because of Roni, but he, like everyone else, was pushed away after... I didn't think that she still cared about me though. About any of us.

“Who?” Robin asked, pulling away staring at me. I take a breath, not knowing if Robin would be mad at me for keeping this all a secret.

“It's time you met your aunt,” I say.

_**Roni's POV** _

Downing my drink, I stare at the door as it opens. I'm still unsure of what to say. It's been years since I saw Zelena or Killian, and I've never even met my niece, Robin. I couldn't leave them to Ivy and Eloise though. I made the mistake of pushing everyone away once before. Now I think I'm ready to finally make amends.

“I have to get back, but call me if you need help again,” Weaver nods, leaving my bar again. I stand up, looking at my sister, who I haven't seen in so long. Zelena walks towards me, her face neutral. I can't tell how angry she is with me.

“Zee I'm so-” But she cuts me off by holding her hand in the air.

“We are not doing this here, or now, and certainly not in front of my daughter,” She says, but I can tell just from her tone of her voice that we're not just gonna hug and make friends. “But thank you, for getting him to help us escape.”

“We're family,” I shrug, walking over to my niece. “And you must be Robin.”

“Yeah,” She says nodding, though she looks a bit weirded out by it all. I can't blame her though. She's just been kidnapped then found out she had a secret aunt. Well I'm assuming I'm a secret aunt. From Robin's stunned expression, I'm probably right. Why would Zee tell her about me? After what I did to her.

“I'm Roni,” I smile. “Now I don't know about you guys, but it's been a hell of a night.” I stride back to the bar and pick up a half full bottle of vodka. “Kamikaze anyone?”

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

_**Alice's POV** _

“Imagine it,” Eloise says, walking round me in a circle. “Picture it in your mind.”

“How are you so sure that I can do this?” I ask, frustrated that nothing had happened yet. I was at least a little curious about being able to travel through time.

“Because I was with you when you left that note for yourself,” She smiles at me. “That was what started all this.” I sigh, knowing that she had no other way of knowing that I had found a suicide note. “Now concentrate.” I take a deep breath and imagine that day. The day that my life was turned upside down by the suicide note.

Suddenly I feel like my whole body is being compressed by an invisible force. Blackness fills my vision and the ground moves beneath my feet. Then it all stops and I look around. I am in the same room, but Eloise is in a different place

“Well well well,” She smiles. “I do succeed.”

“Succeed?” I ask.

“In getting you to time travel,” She tells me, offering me a hand to stand up. I glare at the hand and get up by myself. “Now my future self sent me a note a few days ago telling me that I needed to get you to write a letter and deliver it with you.

********************

_**Robin's POV** _

“Kamikaze anyone?” Roni asks and before anyone can say anything a bright light fills the room and Alice is standing next to Killian.

“I made it,” She smiled, as Killian wrapped his arms round her daughter again as we all stand dumbstruck at her sudden appearance.

“What happened Starfish?” Killian asks as they pull out of the hug and she comes to hug me.

“Time travel,” She shrugged. “They made me go back to write the suicide note, but they couldn't control me for long, when I came back to the future, I imagined Papa so that's where I came out. If you were still locked up I was gonna go back to Eloise.”

“That's...” Killian trails off.

“Brilliant,” I smile and Alice looks at me and returns the smile before leaning in to me and our lips are touching. She tastes of sunshine and hope. It feels like the whole world has stopped around us whilst we kiss and it begins again when we finally pull away.

“What are we gonna do now though?” Mum asks. “We're still on the run.”

“I've already thought of that,” Alice says, turning to face my mum. “I still need to go back in time to call Robin so she comes to get me, but then we can go anywhere in time. We can't stay here or we'll be on the run, but I thought maybe we could go somewhere in the past. We could easily hide.” She turns to face me. “I'm sorry I dragged you out of your lives and you have to do this but...”

“I would happily spend the rest of my life jumping through time if it meant being by your side,” I smile and pull her in for another kiss. Everything's going to be okay. I can feel it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter, so I hope you've enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think :)


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